Naruto A Destined Heart
by Haru Takami
Summary: Konoha's fate lies unknowingly in the hands of the one and only Uzumaki Naruto, the last line of defence against the heartless better summary inside NaruxHarem, chapter 2 in the works. Please R&R!
1. Awakening

AN - Okay, this is the first FF i've done that involves actual Canon characters from a show, so go with me on it, alright?

Plot - Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is home to a many number of residents. One of whom causes trouble on a daily basis. That person, is Uzumaki Naruto. However, when a strange meteor shower catches the village in awe, that boy with discover he is the only chance his world has to survive being swallowed by darkness.

Disclaimer - I do not, in any way, own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts, nor any of their characters. I do however, own certain variations of Heartless that may be contained within, although not the Heartless in general.

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Naruto - A Destined Heart

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Chapter 1 - Awakening

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A young boy, no older than twelve or thirteen, lay, facedown, on the ground, seemingly asleep. Slowly, as conciousness returned to him, he raised his head and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Yawning, he slowly opened them to reveal the crystaline blue coloring below them. Adjusting the goggles that rest atop his head slightly as he surveyed his surroundings, he took in one fact.

This was not where he had fallen asleep.

Leaping to his feet in an instant, he looked around quickly, his eyes flicking from place to place around the darkness at teh edge of the platform he stood atop. Sensing none of the ominous feelings that usually fortold of danger, nor the presence of malicious intent that followed him around, he let himself relax, glancing down at the floor below him.

He was standing atop what appeared to be a stained glass window of sorts, although he couldn't see it exactly, he could tell that it was of a young girl, very young by the looks of it, with dark hair and deep, lavander eyes. She was facing away from him at an angle, so he could not see her full face, but she was wearing a black kimono with silver cuffs and obi, and she was holding a blossoming lotus in her cupped hands. Around her in smaller circles were faces he didn't recognise, but they all had those same, lavander eyes. The top circle however, he did recognise...vaguely. She looked much like what he could see of the young girl at the center, but had shorter, lighter hair, and was smiling warmly from what he could tell.

It was then a loud, ecchoing voice boomed from the nothingness at the edges of the lighted platform, drawing the young boy out of his trance and back to reality.

"So much to do, so little time... Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut. Now, step forwards. Can you do it?"

To say the boy was puzzled would be an understatement. His confusion, and suspicion, grew as a beam of light flew shown from the nothingness above, and landed directly at the center of the large platform. The boy merely looked aroud suspiciously, stepping back twords the edge of the platform and getting ready to jump, if it meant he could escape the possibility of being harmed...that light could be a trap, or-

"Do not be afraid, young shinobi. You shall not be harmed, no. No one will trick you here, there is no trap, and you cannot be lured out when you are not hidden."

The young blond was even more surprised now. This voice had apparently read his thoughts down to the letter, and it began to scare him more. Taking cautious steps, he moved forwards into the light, it reflecting slightly off his florange jacket and trousers, making him glow slightly. Suddenly, four small platforms rasied from the surface of the larger one he stood on, atop each floated a sheild, a staff, and a katana. The voice spoke again as the boy jumped back, knowing it would be a trap of some sort.

"Do not worry, young hero. If you give it form... it will give you strength. Choose well."

Not bothering to ask what the voice meant, the boy stepped forwards, twords the shining katana that had caught his eye to his left. His focus, however, was quckly drawn away from it, and instaid, to the large, leaf imprinted shield that had floated harmlessly behind him. Stepping quickly up to the platform, he hesitantly took the shield, and the light surrounding it intensified as he held it. Again, the voice spoke.

"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"

A quick nod of the head was the only reply the boy gave, as, the shield vanished from his arm, shimmering dust falling to the ground as he looked out upon the other pedistals.

"Your path is set, now, what will you give up in exchange?"

His eyes were drawn now to the staff, simple in it's elegance. Polished wood coated at the center in bandages for grip, it glowed with some sort of mystical energy, radiating from the shimmering and swirling sappire atop it. Moving off the platform on which he stood, he moved twords it, standing atop it as well, he took the staff lightly.

"The power of the mystic. Inner Strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you wish to give up?"

The boy lulled it over in his head, before setting the staff down and jumping off the platform lightly, moving twords the shining katana that had caught his eye before, he stepped onto the platform and claimed it, the voice booming yet again, sounding slightly impatiant if anything else.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you wish to give up?"

Nodding quickly, the sword also dissapeared, leaving the boy looking around the darkness as the staff also dissapeared. The voice spoke once more.

"You've chosen the power of the guardian. You've given up the power of the warrior. Is this the form you chose?"

The boy nodded once more, before the platform he was standing on shifted jaggedly, falling downwards as the floor fell out beneath him.

When he awoke again, he found himself laying, face down again, on the image of a girl, just like before. This girl however, had brown hair, flowing free in some kind of wind, her bangs hanging over dark chocolate eyes. She wore a pink Kimono, with yellow and red cuffs and obi, and while the previous had been holding a lotus, this girl carried a glowing red rose, covered in needle sharp thorns that reminded him of kunai knives. Around the edges, where pictures of people had been on the previous platform, now rested images of all sorts of weapons, from kunai and halberds, to knunchaku and bo-staves.

The leaf-imprinted shield returned to the boy's hand as the billowing voice spoke again.

"You have gained the power to fight."

Blinking, the boy swung the shield, with little resistance as the material seemed weightless.

"All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others."

All around the boy, dark spots began to form upon the platform without him realising as he continued to marvel at the weightlessness of the sheld in his hand. It was only when the voice boomed again, drawing him from his trance as that smaller voice in the back of his head alerted him to danger.

"There will be times when you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong"

Creatures rose from the dark spots, insect-like in their appearance. Completely black with glowing yellow eyes, the boy could see the antenna jutting from their heads and curling into menacing spirals, along with the slightly dripping claws of the creatures' front legs. They twitched as they moved, prepairing to leap at the boy as he swung out with the shield, catching one in the face and casting it back into oblivion. One managed to catch him by surprise, and lashed out with a clawed talon to catch him on the shoulder of his right arm, his shield being held in his left however, meant he could swing around into a counter attack and cleave the being in two with the pointed lower edge of the shield. It dissapeared as he hissed in pain from the searing wound on his shoulder.

Fending off the rest of the small beasts however, was realatively easy. Being trained as a shinobi had done the boy wonders as he carefully, albeit akwardly, flipped over one and bashed the shield into it's face. Two more remained as he charged, and kicked one straight into the other, sending them bolth exploding into nothingness. More dark spots began to form around him however, adn the voice boomed again.

"Watch out! Behind you!"

Leaping into action, the boy sprung and attacked the newcomers with as much vigor as he did the last, but still earned another slash across his cheek along one of the whisker-like marks that rested there, while another had cracked the goggles he wore. Panting slightly at the end of the battle, he rests once the onslaught of creatures stops, the shield having dissapeared again as he looked around, a shimmering, transclucent door appearing in his field of vision.

Blinking at this startling appearance, he regained his breath and stood, walking twords it and trying to touch it, only for his hand to slip through the handle as a dull thud meets his ears from behind him , turning to look he sees a large crate with a star printed on the side sitting where he had been sitting only moments ago. Gulping slightly at how very creepy this was all turning out to be, he moves tords it, blinking as something in his mind urges him to smash it. Pulling back a fist, he feels the gentle, weightless feel of the sheild's grip in his hand as he swings it twords the box, chipping it and swinging again, the box shatters into thousands of pieces, rewarding him with a bowl of instant ramen, which he quickly stowed in the rather large pack at his waist. A barrel soon appeared, and, after removing it from the picture, he turned to see light shine upon the door, which is now solid.

Blinking in surprise, he steps forwardstouching the door as it swings forwards, revealing a blinding light that obscures his entire field of vision. As the light grows more intense, he can hear the voice again.

"Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."

When the light fades, he blinks the stars out of his eyes and looks around to see himself standing in a classroom from the academy. Three figures stand at different portions of the room, turning to look, he sees they are all farmiliar.

The first one he knew well, the silver hair and calm face of Mizuki meeting him and making him shiver slightly in his blue sandals. Walking to meet his sensei, the boy went to speak up, before being cut off rudely by the chilling teacher, who asked a question.

"What are you afraid of?"

Mulling it over in his mind, the boy quickly decides on something, although he dosn't say a word, Mizuki tilts his head and speaks quietly.

"Is being indecicive really so scary?"

Mizuki turned to his right, follwing his gaze the blond looks to see another farmiliar face. The greying, yet tanned skin, wrinkles, and robe and hat combination of the Third Hokage, has an inviting look upon his face. Turning to look back at Iruka, the boy finds that he is no longer looking at him. Deciding it is best to leave his sensei alone, he walks to the old man, attempting to greet him but is again cut off with a question.

"What is most important to you?" Asked the old hokage's gruff, yet kind voice.

Again, the boy turned it over in his mind. Looking up as he decided on something, the aged Hokage answered for him, just as Iruka had.

"Is friendship such a big deal?"

The elderly shinobi turned to look to his right, the blond's eyes also following as they fall on the sight of another person in his life, with brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and a scar across his nose between his chocolate eyes, was his sensei, Iruka. Running to see him, he sees the care-free look on his sensei's face, and goes to open his mouth, only for Iruka to cut him off like the first two, asking a queston like them.

"What do you want out of life?"

This question took less than a second, getting ready to let the answer burst from his throat, Iruka simply stated,

"Is being number one such a big deal?"

Feeling slightly downtrodden at Iruka's responce, he heard the loud voice, which was seeming to stalk him. Glaring as it spoke up, the boy couldnt, however, shake the fact that he had heard that voice a long time ago...

"You're afraid of being indecicive. You want friendship. You want to be number one. Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won't be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journy's end. The day you will open the door is bolth far off and very near."

Nodding quietly, light suddenly engulfed the room, blinding him again before revealing him to be standing on yet another platform. This one having a blond girl with short, blond hair like his own. She was layed back on what appeared to be a tan bed, laying in a beautifully decoreated violet kimiono with a red obi. Cupped in her hands just over her navel, was a desert flower of some sort. The peaceful, sleeping expresson on her face however, was contrasted greatly by the twining tendrils of what appeared to be sand coiling around the frame of the platform, cracking and splintering all but three circles, one which held what appeared to be a boy with a cat-shaped hood and face paint, another with a fan displaying three smaller circles, and the last with the image of a boy turned from her, holding his face with curled fingers.

A light shone at the center of this platform. Moving twords it, the boy stepped under it's refreshing beam before feeling an imence sence of calm take over him. Looking at his wounds, he noticed they had healed in record time, and feeling his goggles, he noticed they had also been repaired somehow. Shrugging it off to be some sort of genjutsu, the boy noticed glowing steps appear from one side of the platform, and, moving twords them, he watched as they revealed a path to a much higher, brightly lit towered platform, a shimmering golden light hanging above it.

Running as fast as he could up the steps, the boy failed to notice the dissapearing act the steps behind him were preforming, fading back into the nothing from whence they came. Reaching the top, the boy stepped into this new tower of light, but no warmth accompanied it. The voiced boomed again.

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes..."

Turning to look behind him, the boy sees the image of his shadow, accompanied by nine, flowing tails. Shocked, he takes a step back and as he dose, the shadow raises itself from the ground, it's face long, and narrow, with long ears as it molds into the cunning figure of the Kyuubi Kitsune no Yoko, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that nearly destroyed Konoha nearly thirteen years ago...

"But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

Turning to run, the boy stumbles as he sees that his pathway to the previous platform has dissapeared, the bright light shimmering off in the distance, far too far for even a shinobi to jump in one go. Turning to face the demon before him, the boy hardened his resolve, knowing what he must do, before rushing the mighty beast, shield in hand as it swung one of it's mighty tails twords him.

Leaping over the tail and rolling under another one, the boy jumped forwards and slammed his shield into the toe of one of the beasts's large front paws, right at the base of it's mighty talon. Crying out in pain, the beast lunged at him with open jaws, determined to devour him in one bite.

But it would not be so, jumping to the side, just in time, the boy manged to escape disaster as the beast crashed into the remarkably strong surface of the platform below, stunning it slightly as he ran forwards, swinging the shield's sharp lower edge into the eyelids of the great beast, gouging into the soft material that lay below and earning another howl from the beast as it thrashed, half blind and in excruciating pain, with all nine of it's mighty tails.

Sticking close to it's body, the boy waited for his chance and swung at the beast's foreleg, tearing a shallow gouge through the reddish fur and into the beast's hide, causing it to yelp and lunge at him again, only for him to roll out of the way and have it crash, with twice the previous force from anger and pain, into the platform, nearly knocking the great demon lord unconcious. The orange-clad shinobi-to-be threw the shield, with all his might, at the beast's eye, hitting it dead center and causing the beast to thrash about even more viciously, wall the while the voice begain to speak again, scratchy as if over a recording as the tower began to shake from the beast's violent tantrum.

"But don't be afraid. And don't forget..."

The demon thrashed again, toppling forwards slightly.

"But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

The beast caught itself before swinging backwards, it's tails dragging it back as the floor begain to swim with darkness.

"So don't forget..."

"You are the one, who will open the door."

The boy struggles with all his might before being completely engulfed by the darkness at the floor of the tower.

--

"Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun!" Cried out a slightly amused Ayame as she shook her best customer slightly. Jumping up, said blond looked around. I was about eleven judging by the foggy image of the clock on the far wall. Looking up at the slowly focusing image of Ichiraku Ayame, Naruto blinkd. Had it all been just a dream? It felt so real! The images flashed back to him, and, finding his voice he spoke up.

"Ayame-neechan, it was amazing! I was on these weird tower things, I mean, at first I thought I'd gotten kidnnapped again and dragged off to another warehouse, but instaid I was ontop of this really big pillar thing, and I faced off against a demon lord, but then I got swallowed up and-itai!" He cried out as a hand knocked into the side of his head, rousing him from his musings.

"Naruto-san! You ordered twenty bowls of ramen, ate them all in five minutes, and passed out! You've been sitting here for over an hour!" Cried out Ichiraku Teuchi, adjusting his small white hat that covered his slowly balding head as he looked upon Naruto with narrow eyes. "You're my best customer, there's no arguing that, But it seems that you also scare off the rest of my customers when you fall asleep at the counter!" He said, in what could be taken as an irratable tone by anyone else, but was obvoiusly a humorous one to the other two present.

Giggling, Ayame spoke up as naruto rubbed his aching head. "Ne, Naruto-san, aren't the genin tests today?" She asked gently, while arching her brow "They start in just a few minutes don't they?"

Forgetting his pain for the moment, and glancing up at the clock with sharper vision, he noticed that she was right. He had five minutes to make it the several blocks to the academy before he was failed.

Pulling out his toad-shaped wallet, a sight that always got Ayame into corouses of giggles because of 'how cute' it was, he dropped the bills on the table as he leapt from the stool, returning the wallet to his pouch as his fingers brushed against the sturdy packaging of his cup ramen, freezing slightly he made it off as forgetting he had packed some for lunch today or something, before yelling his thanks and a note of 'keep the change' to the man behind the counter as he leapt twords the acadamy via the rooftops.

--

AN - Alright, who can tell me who naruto saw on each of the stained glass platforms? Ne? Ne? Anyways, what did you all think of the oh-so anti-climactic fight between naruto and the 'minor' kyuubi.(kyuubi will be making an appearnce later, and he will be much stronger btw) So, read(past tense) and review please!

Next chapter - To the loser go the spoils...


	2. To the Loser go the Spoils

AN - alright everyone, here's the whopping, 4,257 word, chapter two of A destined heart, a bit drier than last time possibly, but hey, what can you do? I'm not sure I put this up last time, but this is a naruxharem fic, as I simply cannot decide on who to pair him with. Ah well, in this chapter, to the loser go the spoils. R&R!

Disclaimer - I do not, in any way, own Naruto or Kingdom hearts. They belong to their respectful owners and not me. Any specific heartless that are not cannon, along with characters in the storyline that are not from either, do belong to me, aside from hearless in general in that case.

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Chapter 2 - To the Loser Go the Spoils

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"Haruno Sakura?"

"Here!"

"Uchiha Sauske?"

"Hmph"

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

Silence.

Looking up from his role-sheet, Iruka sighed at the empty seat where Naruto usually sat, doodling along the edges of his table before being yelled at, or propping his book up and eating behind it, or simply falling asleep while he lectured. But now, the seat was empty. Sighing, he did, as was thankfully required, and called out the student's name again.

"Uzumaki Naruto?!"

A sudden crash at the window was his answer as all the heads in the class turned to look at the window, which had the body of Naruto, swirly-eyed and half-unconcious, plastered to the pane of kunai-proof glass. Rounds of laughter erupted in the room as Iruka sighed and got up, walking to the window and opening it inwards for his favourite student to fall to the floor, before shaking his head and standing.

"Here!" he called out happily, grinning and giving a thumbs up.

"Dobe..." came the call from Sauske, causing a twitch of annoyance from Naruto.

"Baka.." Sighed an exasperated Sakura, as the blond boy moed up the rows to sit on the oppicite side of the pink haired girl from Sauske, a mutter of "Duck-butt-head" as he passed Sauske, and earning said Uchiha to slide his chair back enough for Naruto's foot to catch the leg of the chair and tumble forwards onto his face.

"So, stupid, _and_ clumsy, ne, dobe?" sauske actually grinned, causing a squeal from all of his fangirls in the classroom, their squeal however automatcally causing his face to return to it's stotic and emotionless facade.

"Yaro..." Naurto muttered, before standing again, moving into his seat as Iruka resumed calling roll, not noticing the look of mild anger on his partner's, Mizuki's, face.

Once roll was done, Iruka stepped before the class, crossing his arms over his chest and giving them one of his famed 'stern-but-kind' looks as he did, indicating that today was the day that they were waiting for. Most of them atleast, because today, was the day of their final exams as academy students.

"Alright everyone," He said, his smile broadening and the sternness vanishing from his face to be replaced by a gentle confidence in each of them. "Today is your Exam to graduate from the academy and enter your lives as Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village!" He announced, his eyes softening further.

"I hope you all do well and pass, to join all of those that came before you as ninja, and all the responcebilities that come with the title." The round of groans that followed this announcement earned a chuckle from bolth teachers.

"We'll call you off one-by-one to enter this room and display a pre-chosen technique for this test." Mizuki stated, moving to stand beside his chuunin colluege, clipboard in hand. "The chosen technique will be the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Jutsu." He said, causing all but a single student to perk up at the easy prospect at passing.

Quietly, Naruto sunk back into his chair, , hiding slightly from the eyes of his sensei as he becan to sweat.

_"kuso..."_ Thought the distressed shinobi-to-be, wringing his hands under the table as they shook, _"Of cource they had to choose my worst jutsu for this test! Now i'll never pass!"_ The worry on his face was only viewed by the floor as the others chatted lightly about the easy prospect of becoming ninja. Mizuki cleared his throat.

"Alright everyone, now, i'll begin to call off names to follow us into the next room and preform the technique. Regardless of wether you pass or not, you will then go into the second classroom to await the final student's passing...or failing" The last part of that statment was ominous, dangerously so. And the fact that he was staring straight at Naruto as he said this was very unsettling to the young blond.

"Akimiki Chouji, You're up first" Mizuki then stated, stepping with Iruka into another room to await him, before he followed at a leasurely pace, snacking on a bag of potato chips as he did.

--

Naruto looked around the barren, empty room. He was the only one left, and he knew it wasn't a coincidence either. He just knew it. It was like he had been singled out to fail or soemthing like that.

"Why is it always me..." He muttered quietly, before images of that strange empty place surfaced in his mind. The black creatures, the oddly familiar, deep voice that had guided him, it all seemed so strange in it's reality. Then again, when had reality ever made sense to the young cerulean-eyed academy student?

The door opened. and Iruka stepped through, smiling warmly at his favourite student.

"Alright, Naruto. You're up, now do your best" he said kindly, stepping aside as a nervous and shaking Naruto made his way down from his seat and through the door into the testing room.

Mizuki was sitting in his chair, grinning with either anticipation, or was that hope? The difference between the two was unfathomable in the silver-haired chuunin's case. As naruto stepped up, the grin spread. Iruka took his seat next to Mizuki, smiling warmly in contrast to the terrifying grin that Mizuki wore.

"Alright Naruto, you know what to do I hope?" Iruka asked cheerily as Naruto stood before him, calming his shaking hands before nodding and forming the seals to preform the bunshin no jutsu. Swirling blue energy began to circle his form, creating a spiraling dome made of lines of that blue energy. Closing his eyes in concentration, Naruto focused on the image of a second him standing before him, taking his place in trivial things.. before those creatures appeared in his mind's eye.

Twtching and insect-like, with those glowing yellow eyes that seemed to strike fear into his heart at the first sight of them. They came in drones into his mind, just as they had before in that place. Quickly he tried to clear them before preforming the jutsu for what he hoped was the final time.

"_BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!_" Naruto cried out, hoping that he handn't messed up.

It seemed, however, that luck was not on his side. The clone he produced was disfigured and twisted. It's head was backwards as it layed on the ground, a blank expression on it's face. It's skin was a dark grey, nearly black and it's eyes, rather than being blue, were a bright gold, his hair had also lost some of it's brightness and the texture loss, as it slicks down slightly. The sight of it sent shivers down his spine. It was one of _them_.

Stepping back slightly in bolth shock and fear, the bunshin stood, still blank and expressionless, before grinning to reveal dark grey, jagged teeth that curled into a sinister smile, before waving once and dissapearing in a cloud of black smoke. Naruto's confusion and shock weren't the only ones present in the room by this point.

Iruka and Mizuki's faces betrayed nothing that was passing through their minds. Mizuki's calm exterior held intrest at the boy's attempted clone. Rather than flickering out like a regular bunshin, this one had dissapeared in a cloud of smoke like another type of bunshin he knew well. Even more strange, was it's appearance. It was twisted...evil...powerful. He needed it. Maybe advancing this brat to genin would be a good idea...

Iruka however, was in complete and utter dis-belief. Naruto _had_ created a clone, but due to it's shape and form, he still did not manage to create a working clone, as it's coloring would give it away instantly. He would have to do something he did not want to do again. He would have to fail Naruto a fourth time. Turning to discuss with Mizuki, he saw the pleased look on his fellow teacher's face.

"I say we pass him." Came the silver-haired chuunin's reply, the smile on his face was genuine for some reason.

Iruka shook his head.

"No, he isn't ready. You saw that bunshin, it wasn't like him enough to even be a distraction. We bolth have to agree on this, and as much as I'd like to pass him...I'm afraid we cant." he said regretfully, sighing and turning back to Naruto, who was hanging his head in defeat.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but we can't pass you with a bunshin like that. I'm truely sorry..." Iruka hung his head as well as his favorite student moved twords the door back to the first classroom, walking out of the door and leaping through the window, tears streaming down his cheeks from his eyes.

--

Naruto sat on the swing infront of the academy, watching all the families that came to pick up their children, all of whom wore leaf headbands proudly somewhere on thier person. He could hear the wispers from the children and their parents alike.

_"I heard he's the only one that didn't pass..."_

"He's such a freak... it's no wonder he failed"

_"That demon dosn't deserve to become a shinobi... he's a disgrace..."_

The list went on.

Getting up slowly, Naruto walked twords the exit to the courtyard, not noticing two pairs of eyes that watched him leave in particular. One that held care, and the other that held interest.

Hyuga Hinata and Hanabi watched naruto leave as their father acknowlaged Hinata's becoming a shinobi with a firm clap on the shoulder and a stiff nod. The former watched him go with the gentle care and compassion that only she could radiate, her imense love for naruto known to everyone but her family and said 'blond bombshell,' in her opinion atleast although she would never admit to thinking such a thing.

Hanabi however, wondered why he was the only who failed. He couldn't possibly be that bad, could he? Neji-neesan's team mate with the funny haircut and creepy eyebrows had passed, and he could not use chakra at all. Perhaps this boy could not do anything? No, he would have left long before now if that were the case. Why could he possibly have failed?

Others looked upon naruto, with pity and sorrow. Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru among them, while others scoffed as he passed, namely Inuzuka Kiba and, of cource, Sauske.

"Dobe..."

That did it. That single comment sent Naruto running from the courtyard and into the village to find a place to be alone and cry in peace.

--

It was night. The stars shone brightly above a downcast and downtrodden Naruto as he sat atop his apartment. The calm, cool night winds plew through his hair and made it sway gently above his eyes, which were looking down at the goggles held in his hands. A calm voice from behind startled him from his trance.

"Ne, Naruto... Do you want to know a way you can still become a Shinobi?"

Turning quickly, Naruto saw Mizuki standing a few feet away, calm and stotic as ever, but the reassuring smile on his face worried Naruto slightly. But, he held his head high and took in what his sensei offered.

"What do you mean another way?"

"Well, it's quite simple..." Mizuki stated, explaining what Naruto needed to do in quiet tones.

--

"Lord Hokage! Naruto has stolen the scroll of sealing!" Cried a chuunin, who burst quite suddenly into the Hokage's chamber, interrupting his quiet nap and causing the old man to fall to the floor in shock. Quicky regaining himself he looked sternly at the shinobi who dared to defy his "Don't barge in suddenly" rule he had put down on his gaurd staff at the building.

"Are you sure?" asked the elderly man, staring determinedly at the chuunin in question, who gulped slightly, nodding. "Alright then. Gather every chuunin, Jounin, and Anbu who is on-duty, Naruto is elusive as any can tell you, we will need every available shinobi to track him down." The chuunin nodded and turned to leave, before being stopped by the hokage.

"And by the way... you saw nothing. Understand?"

The chunin gulped loudly and nodded vigorously at the dark look on the hokage's face, before running at break-neck speed out the door to gather the ninja.

"Now... Naruto... What have you gotten yourself into?"

--

Naruto fled at high speeds through the thick foliage of the woods at the edge of konoha's walls, his goggles over his eyes to protect them from stray branches, which hit his face often in his attempt to shake the ninja he knew would be tailing him. Stoping in a clearing to rest, he sat the large scroll down and leaned against the delapidated shack that sat against the wall, opening the scroll and looking inside, glancing over the first justu this scroll held and sighing.

_"Ah well... might as well give it a shot... Mizuki Sensei said it might be a good idea..."_

--

Iruka dropped into the clearing where he saw Naruto panting and leaning against the shack still, the scroll slightly open before him.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! Man... I only had enough time to learn one jutsu before you found me!" Naruto said, grinning slightly and scratching the back of his head.

_"Wait... he's been practicing out here all this time? But the Mizuki... and the hokage... could he really be trying to get better?"_ the thought ran through Iruka's head in an instant. This was Uzumaki Naruto they were talking about. He'd pull a prank of disasterous quality if it meant getting recognition. So, the only thing better than that, would be learning a forbidden jutsu and being able to use it. Iruka just hoped that it hadn't been a dangerous one...

"Well, I guess I can show you what I learned so I can become a ninja, right?" Naruto asked, standing and closing the scroll. Iruka was flabbergasted at Naruto's claim.

"What? What do you mean Naruto?"

"Mizuki sensei said that if I got this scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I'd automatcily pass and become a ninja!" Naruto said, grinning even wider, and holding up the scroll. Iruka shook his head.

"That's not how it works Naruto, Now what's this about Mizu- Get _DOWN!_" Iruka cried, leaping onto the boy as a giant shuriken whistled past where Iruka had just been standing, flying upwards and slicing through branches before dissapearing into the distance with a slight 'ping.'

"Awww...Iruka, why did you have to go and find him first? It would have been much easier to kill him if you hadn't shown up..." Said Mizuki, his leaf bandana gripped tightly over his head, the cold metal plate on it's front glinting dangerously in the light of the full moon.

"K-k-kill me?" Naruto managed, looking up at Mizuki's shilouet, crouched on a branch above them. "Why?"

"It's easy, Naruto. I'd be doing the village a favor actually... Haven't you ever wondered why they all hate you? Why you always failed the exams? I'll tell you..."

"No, Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Cried out Iruka, before a kunai stabbed into his shoulder suddenly, followed by five more that hit him in the chest and midsection.

"I'll tell him why, and you wont stop me!" Cried mizuki, standing and grinning evilly, the crazed look in his eyes visible even through the shadows that the trees above cast. "It is because you, Naruto, are the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that attacked Konoha twelve years ago!"

Images flashed through Naruto's mind. The Fox, the towers, the creatures, and finally the failed clone he had created. Tears began to stream down his face as Mizuki continued.

"YOU are the reason so many innocent shinobi are dead! You are the one that killed Iruka's parents! That's why he hates you and _THAT_ is why he failed you!"

"That's a lie!" This voice was Iruka's, but it did no good.

Grabbing the scroll and turning, tears streaming down his face and clouding his vision slightly, Naruto ran from the clearing as fast as he could, Ignoring the branches that whipped at his face and legs as he raced through the treetops, away from the two chuunin in the clearing.

--

Sitting, crying behind a tree, Naruto heard somone land gently behind him and set something down. Another tap on the branches above lead him to believe it was Iruka and Mizuki.

"Alright Iruka...Give it up, I know that's you." Came Mizuki's calm and collected voice, even if the underlaying tones of madness could be heard by a deaf man.

Turning to peek around the tree, Naruto saw himself erupt into a cloud of smoke, revealing Iruka holding onto a large log, which had kunai imbedded into it.

":Why did you do this to him?" Came Iruka's question, slight worry able to be heard in it by the mentioned blond boy.

"Easy. At first, I wanted to pass him to see if I could discover the reasoning behind that...odd, clone of his, thinking you would pass him for getting that much right. However...when you failed him, it seemed I'd just have to use him to get what I wanted...that scroll. Unfortunatly it seems..." Naruto could see the maniacle grin on his sensei's face widen as he continued, while images of that 'clone' run through his mind alongside the images before him, "he's gone and become the demon he really is... He'll use the scroll, you know he will Iruka. He'll use the scroll and release himself from that body, then destroy all of Konoha!" Cried out Mizuki, his grin widening further, "Because that's what demons do, isn't it Iruka?"

Naruto was frozen on the spot. What did Mizuki mean 'he was the demon'? And more importantly... Did Iruka really think about him like that? Tears cascaded down his cheeks again as he started to crawl away, hoping to get some distance before Iruka spoke up.

"Yeah...that's what demons do..."

Naruto's eyes went wide, clouding over with tears like never before in his life as he went to scramble away with all his might, before a calm voice spoke up behind him.

"But that's not Naruto. He's stronger than that. He'll never turn bad like you say he will, he has a dream, and I believe that if he pushes himself, he'll be able to fulfill it one day. Naruto will make a fine Hoakge...and there's nothing you'll ever be able to do to stop that."

Naruto couldn't help his eye's widening at that statement, frozen in shock, he could hear Mizuki's dark chuckle, followed by the unclipping of a large weapon. Instinct kicked in, and, just as Mizukilet the large shuriken fly, a left fist collided with his jaw, knocking him back off the branch and collapsing to the ground as the bladed star whirled down and embedded itself into the ground below them.

Naruto landed before iruka, holding out a fist before him and setting down the large scroll, holding it up with his right hand.

"I'll _NEVER_ let you harm Iruka-sensei!" He declared, as Mizuki returned to his feet, glaring and rubbing his jaw.

"So, the demon reveals itself..." Miauki growled, taking a step forwards and reaching over to grab the shuriken from where it had sunk into the moist soil. "Too bad it has to die... _He_ will be very iritatd... but it seems it can't be helped." Mizuki grinned again before drawing back the shuriken and letting it go a second time tonight, but Naruto was ready.

"Oh no you dont!" Cried out the orange-clad shinobi, before drawing a kunai and swinging it with all his might upwards in a gaurd, the blade of the kunai horizontal as it met the overlarge star. Sparks issued from bolth blades as Naruto's hand jerked back from the impact, the shuriken sailing off on a new cource through the treetops and twords the wall of the village. "Now, let me show you what i've learned, Mizuki-_sensei_!" Naruto's voice had raised and he held out his hands in a cross-shaped seal of which only a handful knew it's meaning.

"No!"

"Yes! _Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

The clearing exploded with an insane amount of smoke, when it cleared seconds later, the trees, and the forest floor, were a brilliant mix of orange and yellow.

"But...but how! You're a failure! You have close to no chakra control! How can you do this?" Mizuki yelled in shock at the fact that Naruto had been able to complete the jutsu, let alone the sheer number of actual physical clones in the small clearing.

"Now!" They chorused as one "Let us teach _YOU_ something!"

Mizuki didn't even have time to scream.

--

"There we go, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, tying up the black, blue, and purple, lumped form of Mizuki. Then again, if you handn't known it was Mizuki, you wouldn't have known it was human either. It actually looked more like a large, raspberry like fruit shoved into ninja's clothing and given a wig. Turning as he heard a chuckle, to look at Iruka's smiling face as his teacher spoke.

"You did well...Naruto...Now, close you're eyes. I want to give you something."

Blinking, Naruto did as he was told, only to feel something smooth and slightly heavy be placed against his forhead, before being tied around his head where his goggles usually were, they had fallen off while he was pummelling Mizuki. Sensing Iruka step back, he heard his teacher's calming tone.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Said Iruka, standing before Naruto as the morning light shone on his and his student's faces. Blinking in the sunlight, Naruto could manage to make out the fact that...Iruka was not wearing his headband. Reaching up slowly to feel the cool metal of his forhead protector, Naruto's eyes widened drasticly.

"B-b-b-but Iruka sensei? I thought I failed!" Naruto cried out, earning another chuckle from his teacher.

"The test, Naruto, was that you had to create one working bunshin, seeing as bolth I'm now the only teacher in charge of the exam, and that you managed to create an incredable ammount of bunshin just now, I believe that you've earned this. Now, lets go get some ramen!" Iruka chuckled again, tears running down his face to match the ones running down Naruto's.

"Alright!"

--

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat watching happily as Naruto and Iruka dragged a bruised, bleeding, and unconcious Mizuki back to the village proper, all the while joking about what kinds of ramen they would get, and how much of a tab Iruka would have to pick up.

"Well...Naruto...it seems that you've found your path to acheving your dreams, ne?" Chuckling at the idea of a ramen-loving hokage, Sarutobi smiled down at his crystal ball "But...I cant help but worry about what Mizuki meant by 'him'... it's very troubling..."

Standing and walking from his viewing chamber, the third hokage moved to stand before the alrge windows overlooking the village, where, just a few weeks ago, he had seen the most spectacular and beautiful meteor shower that Konoha had ever had the grace of witnessing from this spot. He doubted even the shower all those hundreds of years ago, at the start of the first great shinobi war had been as beautiful...or as ominous. He could feel in his old bones that something bad was about to happen...

--

AN: And there we go. Chapter 2 of "A Destined Heart." sorry about the crappy, boring-ness of it all, but hey, it's a set-up chapter for later action, it's kinda important.

Now that Naruto is a ninja, what lies in store for him? Who was the mysterious person Mizuki spoke of? What is the connection between the first shinobi war and now? And what dose the ominous feeling Sarutobi feels mean? You'll have to read to find out!

Next Chapter - A training exam, or, First Strike.


	3. A Training Exam, or, First StrikePart1

AN - wow! All these reviews! I'm truely honored! You people really seem to like this story, so I guess I wont let it die...even though you people are the reason AZ died. Yes, you. You people are the cause for my first fanfiction here to die. Feel guilty.

Anyways, enough advertising, Let's hope that this chapter has alot more action than the last one. R&R, seriously!

Disclaimer - Never have owned Naruto or Kingdom Hearts, aside from the various merchandise i've purchased over the years. I'm a sad, sad little boy.

--

Chapter 3 - A Training Exam, or, First Strike

--

Part One

--

"Alright everyone,. Thank you all for coming back. Today, you see is the day that you will be grouped into three-man squads and paried with your jounin sensei!" Iruka cried happily. No, he was litterally crying. All because of the blond sitting at the center of the group of students before him, with a gleaming metal plate shining against his forhead, the leaf insignia carved flawlessly into it. "So congratulations to everyone here on passing!" _Especially you, Naruto..._

Naruto grinned, smiling broadly and adjusting the forhead protector he was now wearing proudly in place of his trademark goggles.

_I cant believe it...i'm a NINJA!_ He thought triumphently. And it was true. He really was a ninja now.

That didn't mean, however, that he was a good one.

"Baka! How did _you_ become a ninja! Everyone knows you failed!" Cried out a slightly enraged Sakura as her fist met the top of his head.

"Itai! S-sakura-chan! what did you do that for?" Whined the injured shinobi, nursing the large lump that had formed atop his head, along with the nearly-broken jaw from his head slamming against the desk below it.

"Dobe..." Was all the confermation that the two recieved from sauske to tell he was even listening to their converstaion, or rather, argument. Although it quickly dissolved however.

"Sauske-kun..." Sakura blushed as her inner self worked it's way into her mind. _CHA! Sauske-kun's so freaking cool! _ Sakura continued her mental converstaion with herself as Naruto, forgotten, nursed his aching head.

From the back of the room, the lavender-eyed form of Hinata watched Naruto with care and happiness.

"Congratulations... Naruto-kun..." she whispered quietly, as Kiba turned to look at her.

"Ne, you say something, Hinata?" He asked quietly, arching his brow as Akamaru barked happily, lolling his tounge out as he sat atop his partner's head.

"Eh? Oh... iie..." She said quietly, blushign and turning away, earning a shrug from the canine-user before he turned away.

_I'm so happy for you... Naruto-kun... Gambate..._

Naruto sneezed quite loudly, saking his head as he looked up from the floor, having fallen over backwards from the shere force of his sneeze. Then again, perhaps he shouldn't have been leaning back in the first place. Mild laughter accopanied his antics but was quickly quieted by Iruka.

"Alright everyone, As you know, you will be meeting your jounin sensei today. Untill then, I'll tell you your groups of three-man squads, and then you will leave with your sensei when they arrive." He explained, looking at a list. "Squad one is..."

His voice was drowned out to Naruto's ears by exited whispers. Sitting back up with his chair, he sighed. It realy was his last day. His last day at the academy. He had spent nearly seven years in this building. He had even gotten in early thanks to a refferal by old man hokage. Yeah, he failed three times, but it was always because of that graduation exam...that stupid bunshin no jutsu. If it wasn't for that, he would have passed long ago. Two years ago infact. Then it came back in a flash.

The three girls on the tower. The one with the rose. He had seen her before. He had been in her class before infact, last year even. But she had graduated and he handn't... placed with that weird-eyed-guy and the weirdo with the bowl-cut. She had actually been very nice to him, unlike the others, and had actually taught him how to throw a kunai properly. Without her, he probably wouldn't be as great a ninja as he was now. Ohh.. what was her name again? It had a ring to it...it repeated, didn't it?

Mulling the image of the girl on the tower over in his head, he could remember her vaugly. Rather than the long, flowing hair she had on the mural, she had been wearing buns whenever he had seen her, two of them atop her head. _bun-bun? nah...nobody would name their kid bun-bun..._

But still the name evaded him. He could actually, though, remember calling her 'bunbun' once, and getting a giggle... Right? Ah well, nothing he could do about it now. Who knows, he might actually get to see her again...

"Squad seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto..."

Iruka's voice cut through his thoughts like a shuriken through rice paper at the mention of his name, giving his sensei his full attention, he looked down.

"Haruno Sakura..."

Leaping to his feet in triumph, Naruto grinned, missing the look of dissapointment on said girl's face.

"And Uchiha Sauske"

It was Naruto's turn to crumple in defeat, and Sakura's to rise in triumph. Sauske merely sighed and shook his head. _The dobe and an over-obsessive fangirl... just what I need._

"Iruka sensei! Why dose a super-awsome ninja like me have to get stuck with Saus-gay over there?" Naruto cried defiantly, slamming his hands onto the desk before him. Iruka's eyebrow twitched dangerously.

"Because, Naruto. Out of all the test grades, Sauske's were some of the highest, and yours... WERE THE LOWEST!" he cried out, his infamous 'big-head-no-jutsu' in full effect as he did so, causing several students to fall off their chairs in shock. It always seemed this jutsu didn't need handseals, so there was absolutely no warning for it.

"So? You saw what I can do! Who cares about test-scores! It should be what we can actually _DO_ that defines how good of a shinobi we are, not some stupid piece of paper!" Naruto cried back. This actually silenced Iruka, who looked upon Naruto with confusion. Since when had naruto been so open about such things?

Although, Iruka could see his point. FRom naruto's point of view, it seemed as though the world was against him. After his first year with the blond boy, Iruka had actually gone and checked some of Naruto's previous test grades. The papwerwork tests atleast. And, under closer inspection, he realised something.

They were all right. One-hundred percent so.

And yet he had only recieved minimal credit, just enough to pass. By all accounts, Naruto was probably one of the smartest students in here when he applied himself, just like Shikamaru. But after all the abuse and lies he's been fed over the years, he stopped doing his best. That entire internal confrence of minds he had, took less than a minute, and he already had a comeback for the new shinobi.

"Alright then. Since you're such a good ninja, and Sauske is such a good ninja, why dont you two see who can be the best ninja?" Iruka said smugly, turning back to his sheet. "and now, you're first test. Lets see who can be the quietest untill your jounin sensei gets here, shall we?" Iruka added as Naruto opened his mouth to say something to Sauske. Glancing down at the sheet to see who was the blond's sensei, he knew it would be a very quiet long while. "Oh, and Sakura, you're in charge of recording who talks first. Make it fair, or i'll know." Sakura gulped and nodded at the slightly dark look on her teachers face, having been thinking of automatically declaring sauske the winner as soon as Iruka left the room.

Turning back to his sheet, Iruka began to call out the names of the next squad. "Squad eight, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji, Squad nine is Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Hinata."

Only one thought passed through Naruto's mind as he sat, watching the clock.

_I'll be better than you, Sauske!_

--seven hours later--

The sun was starting to set on the horizon. and the three genin were getting impatient. Especially a certain blond-haired shinobi sitting at his desk and doodling on the corners, if you could call using a kunai to etch images permanantly into the wooden surface doodling, that is.

"Where is he?" Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes slightly. "He had better get here soon..." She muttered after a short pause, cracking her knuckles as Naruto finished his 'drawing' and stood, walking down to the front of the class and away from the leaf-imprinted _naruto_(1) etched into the top, right corner of the desk.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked as she saw him pick up a chalkboard eraser from the tray and move to the door, climbing on a chair to reach the top of the sliding panel as he opened it.

Resting the eraser between the door and the wall, he slid it shut so the eraser would fall if the door was opened, which he knew would happen.

"Naruto, you idiot! Our sensei is a highly trained jounin! You don't really think he'll fall for such a stupid prank, do you?" she groaned exasperatedly, rubbing her temples as Naruto grinned and moved from the door, something catching his eye at the back of the class.

A lock. A star shaped lock. On a small red chest, sitting on a shelf. Moving twords it, he ignored his female teammate's confused expression and duck-butt-head's look of quiet disgust.

Something made him draw a kunai as he approached, something deep within him drawing out his arm to hit the chest with the black steel before a fist crashed into his head.

"NARUTO!" sakura bellowed in his ear as he cringed, holding his throbbing head with the non-blade wielding hand. "Why would you try to open something...of...iruka-senseis...wait, I dont remember this being here five minutes ago...do you?" She asked, staring at the oddly shaped lock and the large yellow swirl that stood out against the glossy red wood of the chest. Reaching out she tried to open it, to see if it was unlocked. No use. She even tried hitting it herself to break the wood, but nothing worked.

"Stupid box.." she gritted her teeth and tried to move the box, only to find out it was firmly rooted to it's place on the shelf. Sighing with defeat, she turned away, thinking it a genjutsu to test their minds or something left by Iruka sensei, probably to trick Naruto into talking or something. Imagine her surprise when she hears a 'click' and turns to see Naruto holding a kunai just above where the lock had been on the now-open red chest.

"N-naruto? how did you open it?" she asked increduously, moving over to see what was in the mysterious box.

Naruto merely shrugged, as he had imagined holding the strange shield from his 'dream' and hitting the lock gently, twice infact, and motioned that he did so, tapping the bottom half of the lock twice. Sakura's look of confusion increased more.

"You tapped it?" she blinked, dumbfounded as she looked into the chest, Naruto joining her as Sauske moved over to see what was so spectacular.

"What in the world?" was all that left the girl's mouth as Naruto withdrew a scroll with a glimmering, wax spiral seal on it, just as the chest dissapeared before their very eyes.

'WHAT THE?" the two fell back,just as sauske moved forwards, stopping as Sakura's head landed at his feet. Arching his brow he looked at where the chest had been, which was now just an empty shelf.

"That was freaky..." Naruto mumbled, temporarily forgetting not to talk in his shock as he looked up at the empty space, only to clasp his hands over his mouth.

"Ha! I knew you wouldn't win Naruto!" she said, grinning trumphently as he was suddenly clinging to Sauske.

"Not exactly..." came a call from the door, revealing the head of a white-haired man with a mask over the bottom half of his face, a leaf headband covering his left eye, and a chalkboard eraser resting gently atop his head. "It looks like he just made it..."

The three stared at him, blinking in surprise. The man stepped into the room, removing the eraser from his head and setting it on the tray under the green board.

"He..actually..fell for it?" was al Sakura could muster, blinking in surprise at the jounin that stood before him. Either he had to be a very bad ninja, or he just didn't care about the eraser. She seriously hoped it was the second one.

"Well, you two are a snaggly little bunch, aren't you?" Kakashi asked, arching his brow at the three kids before him. "Hmm?" his eye locked onto the scroll in Naruto's hand. It looked farmiliar..but he couldn't figure out how...like he had seen one before...on that mission! Kakashi remembered it now. That scroll was one the hokage had sent him to find before he became a jounin. When he asked the hokage had simply stated "It's not me who needs the scroll, but someone later on... The scroll will choose who opens it." Could this kid be the one that is supposd to use it? He didn't have time to answer as two voices derailed his train of thought.

"YOUR LATE!" Yelled Naruto and Sakura, their faces now inches from Kakashi's face without his realising it. He must be really off his game today, first that banana-peel, then the eraser, now these two sneaking up on him? What was wrong with him? To save face he simply eye-smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"Sorry about that, But I was walking along and got lost on the path of life-" "LIAR!"

Kakashi chuckled. That line never worked, but it was worth a try after all.Turning to face his new squad he looked them over. The quiet, emotionless husk of Uchiha Sauske, the Easily-angered figure of Haruno Sakura, and the Florange-clad being that was known as Uzumaki Naruto... Yeah, this was going to take forever.

"Alright you three. Tomorow we'll meet up at Training Field Four to go over training schedules, Getting to know eachother, and so on and so forth." Kakashi explained, before turning to walk out the door. He mentally counted down... _three, two, one...bingo!_

"YOU'RE LEAVING?" came the outraged voices of Naruto and Sakura. Simply turning and giving them an eye-smile, the silver-haired jounin simply nodded.

"If you honestly waited this long, I don't see why a few more hours should be any worse" He commented, before dissapearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto, a homicidal Sakura, and an indifferent Sauske, the lattermost of which also left after a few brief moments, only to quickly be followed by a cooing Sakura, leaving the confused and annoyed Naruto standing there, scroll still in hand.

"That was... that was... What was that?" He asked himself aloud, blinking slightly. It was now he remembered the scroll resting gently in his hand. It was odd how it felt almost weightless, despite being big enough that he had to use bolth hands to grab it all the way around. He also took notice of the Spiral shaped seal holding it closed. Looking closer, he noticed that the center of the swirl had a keyhole imprinted onto it, much like the chest did. Drawing a kunai, he tapped the small keyhole gently, to no avail. Trying to pry it off with the blade only ended with him actually _bending_ the kunai. Whatever was in that wax, it was strong.

"I'll keep this for later..." He mumbled, stowing it away in his shuriken pouch, as he had done with the ramen from his dream, which, was surprisingly still there. Thinking it best to head home and get some rest before heading out to meet with his new squad tomorow, the blond leaped out the open window and ran for home.

--

In the small, dark room that held his crystal ball, sandaime hokage watched Naruto head to his home, sighing as he did.

"What could all this mean?" he asked no one in particular. First the meteor shower, then the Scroll of Light finding its way to Naruto, through a chest that, by all accounts, should not have existed. It was all very forboding, and also confusing to the elderly man. Even more disturbing was the fact that, despite Iwa's obvious hate twords Konoha, they had not had any contact on the upcoming chuunin exams in three months, as was required of all nations that wished to enter their shinobi into the exams. The elderly ninja also had dispatched several Anbu to the area, and only one of which had returned... alive, if you could call it that.

The man had been shaken to the core, something that just did not happen to a ninja who has 'seen it all.' When she wasn't asleep or tossing in fits of fear, the green-haired shinobi had cried out about... creatures. Black, insect like creatures that their tools had no effect on, and their jutsu had little effect on. Apparently, Iwa had been crawling with these Denizens, these... _Heartless_ abominations of shadow. Not a single Iwa shinobi or resident had been seen by the man from what they could tell, only those _things_.

Even worse, when the shinobi had calmed down enough to tell them what had happened, she explained just what these creatures did... They stole your heart. She had said, though, that when she had inspected the body of one of her comrades, there had been no wound from his heart leaving his body seconds before, before he dissapeared in a flash of light. And it was this that had sent her over the edge in the hospital ward. After they had sedated her, the hokage had left to mull over these events.

"If these...Creatures... truely exist... I think that boy may just be our only hope..." The third muttered, the crystal ball focusing on the image of an already sleeping blond boy, with whisker marks on each cheek. "You just might be our only hope... Naruto..."

--

AN: well, there's chapter 3, part 1 of 2.What is going on? What dose that scroll contain? Where did the chest that contianed it come from? What are these dark 'things' that have overtaken Iwa? And whys is Naruto the only one that can stop them? I doubt you dont' know the answers to a few of these questions, but I ask them anyways! Why? Because I can!

Next time: More of our florange clad hero's destiny is revealed, and their training exersize commences! These strange creatures move past Iwa's borders and threaten more of the shinobi world, also, their first C rank mission! I wonder what will go wrong now...

Next chapter: A Training Exam, or, First Strike - Part Two


	4. A Training Exam, or, First Strike part2

AN: Alright, I know the last chapter was a bit dry, but seriously! only two reviews? That's a bit odd... anyways, I promise there to be bit more action this chapter near the end, with more in part 3 if I dont finish it here! I promise! Again, Read and Review!

Dis - I do not, in any way or form, hold the ownership titles of either Kingdom Hearts or Naruto. I do however, own much merchandise and any non-canon characters that show up. I do not profit from this FF in any way.

"Speech"

_Thought_

_**Inner Sakura**_

**'Biju'**

_Voice of Destiny/??_

--

Chapter - A Training Exam, or, First Strike

--

Part Two

--

Naruto awoke the next morning feeling re-energised and more exited than ever. Today was his first training session with his new squad! Sure, his sensei was late yesterday. Really, really late. But still, he had a _REAL_ sensei now! Well... Iruka-sensei was still his sensei, but he had a _squad_ sensei now!

"This is gonna be awsome!" He cried triumphently as he lept from bed to get ready.

--Later, at Ichiraku Ramen--

_Alright!_ Naruto throught exitedly, sitting at 'his stool' in the just-opened noodle stand. _Just gotta get a good meal in and i'll be ready! Ramen awaits!_ He knocked lightly incase the bell that rung when he had moved the half-curtain into the stand hadn't told them he was here.

"Ahhh, Naruto! Our favourite customer! The usual I presume?" Asked Ichiraku Teiuchi, the owner and head cook, who earned a vigorous nod from the blond. "Alright! One miso beef ramen coming straight up, extra large!" said the old man before moving out back to ready the ingredients.

"Oh, Naruto-chan! You're a shinobi now?" Came the gentle, yet boisterous, voice of Ayame, Teiuchi's daughter, as she entered the front of the shop from the stairs leading to their apartment above the stand.

"Yup! I'm 100 all ninja! Wait... did you just call me 'Naruto-_chan_,' Ayame-neechan?" Asked the puzzled blond. Since when did she call him that? It was usually 'Naruto-kun' or 'Naruto-san,' never 'Naruto-_chan._'

"Oops, must have... slipped or something!" Ayame covered quickly, blushing slightly as the blond boy's face relaxed in understanding. "Oh, Naruto-kun, have you heard about Iwa? The news just started filtering around the village last night! They say Iwa was completely destroyed by some kind of new village or something. They say that the people that did it were all really dark or something and looked kind of like bugs in shinobi-clothing!" She said worriedly. "I hope you wont have to fight anything like that on missions!" She added quickly.

Naruto merely beamed. "Don't worry Ayame-neechan! I'm really tough! Nobody can beat me!" He said boastfully, tumping his chest with a closed fist.

"Alright, here's your ramen, Naruto! And it's on the house! Congratulations on becoming a ninja!" Teiuchi said, placing the large bowl of ramen on the counter before him. It was bigger than the blond's head and filled with more noodles and meat than most men could eat in two sittings. But Naruto wasn't most men.

"ITADAKIMASU!" Cried out the joyful shinobi as he broke apart his chopsticks and began to dig in to the large bowl. It was gone in mere minutes, earning a giggle from an amused Ayame and a nod of approval from her father. "Arigatou, Teiuchi-san!" He said, handing the large bowl back before moving to get up.

"Naruto, can you wait a moment?" the old ex-food ninja called before moving twords the back. "There's something I'm supposed to give you" He said as he went back, earning confused looks from Ayame and said blond. When he returned he was holding a scroll, dark in color and slightly farmilliar. It was only when the old man held it out did he realise from where.

Resting comfortably on the edge of the scroll, lay a black wax seal, impirinted with a spiral leading to another, miniscule, keyhole.

"Lord Hokage asked me to give this to you yesterday, I dont know why" He explained as he held it out to the florange-clad genin, who took it carefully. It was the same in every way exept for the colors and the seal. Pulling out the other to check, he blinked as they began to glow slightly, before, on the first scroll, the kanji for "Light" appeared in black ink, and on the second, the kanji for "Darkness" appeared in white ink. All three onlookers were deeply surprised.

Moving them bolth to one hand, Naruto examined the wax seals on each, which, suprisingly, were still firmly-in place, refusing to let the contents of their scroll be revealed. Sighing in dissapointment he placed bolth scrolls back into his kunai pouch, having still not deposited the packet of instant ramen for some reason, although it seemed as though it didn't take up any space at all, the same going for the scrolls that were now tucked comfortably inside too.

Thinking nothing of it, he simply thanked Teiuchi and Ayame and ran off twords the academy to meet up with his squad, not noticing the confused and still shocked expressions on the two's faces. Only one thought ran through Ayame's mind though as the blond sped off.

_Why did I call him Naruto-chan?_

--

"Bah! there you are Naruto!" Said an irritated Sakura "You're late!"

"Err... Is sensei here yet?" He asked, blinking slighlty. Earning a shake of the head from his pink-haired crush. "Then i'm not late!" He grinned, before falling to the ground rather harshly, a large lump protruding from the top of his head as Sakura lowered her steaming fist. A sudden look of realization came over her face.

"Hey... our sensei never gave us his name!" She said indignantly, frowning and crossing her arms.

"He was late, he fell for that dobe's stupid trick, and even said that the idiot was on equal ground with me in being quiet. He's obviously not all there." Sasuke said coldly, earning a nod from his flower-named teammate. "We'd better just hope he gives it to us when we see eachother today"

--five hours later--

"Gah! Where is he?" Sakura grumbled as she paced back and forth, having already dug herself a nice little rut in the dirt for pacing for the last hour nonstop. _**Cha! When he gets here, i'll kick his ass!**_

"Atleast it's not as bad is it was yesterday..." Naruto chimed in, resting on his usual swing across from the entrance to the academy, where he had spent most of his time outside of class when not at ichiraku ramen, sleeping, or pulling pranks and running from them.

Another flash.

It was the day Mizuki had proposed his... alternative, to passing the test. While he had been walking away from the school, he couldn't help but remember a girl's face in the croud, with long, flowning, onyx hair and soft, lavander eyes that showed such care, while at the same time a fire that would not be tamed. He remembered the same look in the eye of that girl from the tower, the one holding the lotus with all the other faces around her, all with those same eyes, but most were cold and scornful twords him. The only other one had been in the circle just above her head, her eyes holding that same caring look, but rather than the fire of spirit he saw in the younger girl's eyes, he saw one of love and passion in the elder's. And he had seen that other girl, just standing behind the younger one.

It was odd. he hadn't been even looking at them, infact he had been facing away, but yet he could still see the look of sorrow and confusion on the two girls faces as he had departed from the academy. He was snapped out of his musings by a fist colliding with the side of his head.

"BAKA! Listen to me when i'm talking to you!" Cried out Sakura as she cracked her knuckles menasingly. "I asked if you've ever seen that guy before!"

"Ite...i-i-iie...Sakura-chan..." Naruto mumbled, shaking his throbbing head slightly as he was clobbered for the second time today. She must get a kick out of hitting him or something, as that was the only possible conclusion Naruto could pull for her behavior twords him. Maybe some girls just liked being in charge. It was all very confusing for the twelve-year-old ninja. _ugh... i'll never understand girls..._

The 'calm,' 'serenety' and 'peace' in the clearing was, however, disturbed by the appearance of the silver-haired jounin from the previous day.

"Ohayo!" (1) He called cheerfullyto his squad, raising a hand in greeting before almost being forced to cover his ears once again.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Cried Naruto and Sakura again, the boy's surprisingly fast recovery startling the eldest member of the squad. _quick... quick... what excuse did you have planned for today?? ooo... that might actually work..._

"Well, I forgot to tell you all where to meet yesterday, so I had to search all over the village to find you" He nodded as though this was the most logical explination in the world. And it was, because in all essence, other than the fact he _hadn't_ been searching, it was true.

"YOU LI - wait... you did forget to tell us yesterday..." the two genin blinked, mulling it over in their mind.

The copy ninja's mind was racing, and had it not been for his face mask, the trio before him would have seen the smile plastered from ear to ear at his cleverness. _Score!_ _Lies 1, genin zero... _

"Alright, but you also forgot to give us another bit of valuable information." Sasuke said cooly as he walked over, his hands in his pockets.

"Oh? And what would that be?" The cycloptic man asked just as coolly, arching his visable brow.

"Your name." The three added with deadpan expressions.

Kakashi sweatdropped at this. _Alright... point to the Genin..._

"Well, what is it?" asked Sakura, poking the older man's stomach slightly, her eyebrow twitching dangerously in a way that reminded the adult shinobi of the look his mother used to give him when he was little. Thinking it best to give his name, rather than the usual reply of _"Are introductions really nessesary?"_

"Hatake...Hatake Kakashi" He said slowly, for some reason getting the urge to add the phrase 'got-it-memorised' to the end for no reason what-so-ever. _That was really... strange..._

"Okay, Kakashi-_sensei_, what are we going to be training today?" Sakura asked, her fists placed firmly on her hips, her posture practicly screaming 'you better have something ready for us, or _else_.'

"Err..." Kakashi began, sweatdropping again." Actually, we're not going to be training _today_..." He began, earning cries of displeasure from the two more vocal members of his squad. Interrupting their displeased cries he started up again. "Today we're actually going to get to know eachother better, likes, dislikes and such, now come on." He moved away from them, motioning them to follow.

Reluctantly they did, Sasuke in front, with Sakura tailing along beside him, and Naruto grumbling about Sasuke's obvious, and reluctant, pimping abilities... or something like that.

When they reached a quiet, secluded spot, Kakashi turned to all of them and motioned for them to have a seat on the steps they just moved down. Nodding, they did so as he leaned against a light pole before them.

"Alright, I want you to tell me a few things about yourselves, like your name, intrests, dislikes, and goals. Think you can each do that?" he explained. receving a nod, he looked over them with his lone, charcoal-colored eye, before focusing on the brooding figure of the Uchiha boy. "You, Mr. 'I'm-Too-Cool-For-This-Squad', you go first." Growling slightly, Sasuke nodded, before looking up at the silver-haired jounin over his bridged fingers.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I dont like anything, I hate everyone, and my only goal is to get stronger so I can kill a certain person before rebuilding my clan..." He said darkly, sending shivers up the spines of his teammates. Kakashi however, only mentally sighed before turning to Sakura.

"Ohh...I-I'm Haruno Sakura. My intrests..." She blushed slightly before turning to Sasuke. "And I hate..." She now faced Naruto, her blush replaced by a snarl of anger. "And my goal is... to become really strong so I can help out on missions!" She added quickly, seeing the aggrivated look on their sensei's face. Seeing it was his turn to speak up, Naruto burst at the opportunity.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I really like Ichiraku Ramen... and Sakura-chan! I really dont like duck-butt-head over there, and my goal is to be Hokage! 'Tebayo!" He cried out, leaping up to put his point across, only to be knocked on his face by an angered kunoichi.

"Hey! Don't make fun of Sasuke like that Baka!" She barked angrilly, stepping on his back.

Internally, Kakashi was laughing at what Naruto had said. _Duck-butt-head? That's a new one on me... but now that he mentions it... Wow!! it really dose look like a duck's ass! Oh... right, better step in before she kills him.._ He sighed before clapping his hands together.

"Alright you two! That's enough!" Kakashi said loudly, forcing the two to stop just with the tone of his voice. "It's already getting late, and you three are going to need your energy for tomorow's training session. We'll meet at training ground Seven near the south end of the village, alright?" he explained, earning nods from the three genin before him. A thought crossed his mind just as he was about to leave.

"Oh...and you might not want to eat any breakfast tomorow... you might just throw up." Leaving at this in a swirl of leaves he was just able to catch the horrified looks two of his students gave eachother, chuckling lightly at the mental image.

"He... he _LEFT_?" The two outraged genin cried out, eyes twitching in anger. While they ranted about the irresponcebility of their sensei, Sasuke merely groaned and walked off, heading home to train on his own as he usually did, completely forgotten by the bickering duo.

--Meanwhile--

"FALL BACK!" Cried a terrified shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves. "Let Yukai-San take care of these beasts! Retreat to safety!" He cried again, before a large, demonic kunai was plunged through his back, withdrawn without leaving a scratch on him before a glimmering heart rose from his fallen body and dissapeared into nothingness as his body fell away.

The creature responsable, about four feet tall and wearing what looked like a violet tunic, trousers, mask and shoes, with crawling, shifting black skin and glowing yellow eyes visable beneath it's forhead protector gazed at the woman before it. The symbol on it's forhead protector was unlike any she had seen before, it did not belong to a shinobi village, yet this creature swung it's kunai knife with the grace of any trained ninja. What was this thing?

"Hmph... you're the creatures that destroyed Iwa? You dont look so tough... You will pay for this with your very lives.." She muttered, leaping back as the creature threw it's weapon at her, before throwing a rain of her own, only for them to pass through the beast and imbed themselves into the ground behind it. "W-wha?"

She landed a few feet away, focusing and readying herself, forming a quick series of handseals. "Alright, try this on for size! _Katon - Endan_!" She cried out, a large fireball escaping her lips and forming into a large dragon, plowing it's way through the creature, along with several others that had sprung forth behind it, disintegrating them all.

"Alright everyone! Head back to the village! We'll try to lose them!" She said, leaping away as more appeared, firing off another roaring flame before leaping away before more could appear. _We must warn lord hokage of this! The creatures have exited the land of earth and are en route to the land of birds!_

--The Next Day in Konoha--

The sun shone brightly into Naruto's room, hitting his sleeping face to reveal the twisted look of agony on the boy's features.

The scene in Naruto's mind wasn't a plesant one. The creatures from before ran rampant throughout the streets of konoha, laying waste to everything in their paths. Stealing hearts from everyone they could find. And it was like he could do nothing to stop it. Then he heard that voice again... from before...

_Do you wish to save them?_

Looking around, Naruto blinked, to see where the voice had come from throuout the mayhem as he twisted and turned in his sleep. Bolth the ominoucity and farmiliarity of that voice beginning to pull at his mind.

_Do you wish to stop all this?_

Naruto nodded quickly, finding himself again unable to speak.

_Would you give your very life to save those you hold close?_

Naruto nodded a final time before waking. But not before hearing the voice's one last declaration.

_You... are ready..._

--at training ground seven--

"Bah! Where is he?" Cried an outraged Sakura as she paced back and forth again, on the verge of digging another rut into the ground here.

"Errr... Sakura-chan... you're going to wear out your shoes if you keep doing that..." Naruto said as he walked up only for his head to meet her fist, again.

"BAKA! Did I ask you?" She growled, cracking her knuckles dangerously at the grounded boy. Sasuke merely sighed and shook his head before turning and looking away from the two, keeping watch for their procrastinative sensei, who was already several hours late apparently.

--

Another four hours passed and squad 7 was already beginning to feel the effects of their self-induced starvation. Naruto layed pitifully on his stomach across a small boulder that rested in the clearing, Sakura was leaning on a tree, trying to find a way, any way, to keep her strength up. Sauske however, was simply sitting, calm as ever on the stump that he had been sitting on for the last several hours. It was inhuman how he could sit there this long.

"Ugh... where's Kakashi-Sensei? It's been almost all day... it's nearly lunchtime..." Naruto mumbled, rolling onto his back and groaning loudly. Sakura mearly whined, not having energy enough to do something as much as yell at her blond teammate. It was the sound of approching footsteps that allerted the two that somone else was coming.

"Ohayo" Kakashi greeted them in his usual care-free manner, raising a hand and giving his famous 'eye-smile.'

"Sorry I'm late you three... You see, a black cat crossed my path and-" "LIAR!" The two called out, again filled with energy fuled on pure rage at the white haired jounin's cronic tardiness. Shrugging, Kakashi merely looked around. "Nothing to say Sauske?" He quietly commented, mentally chuckling at the 'Duck-butt-head' comment from earlier. No reply came from the midnight haired genin however. That is, untill a voice came from the oppocite direction.

"Hmm? Oh... you're finally here..." Called Sauske Uchiha. Carrying an empty bento. And wiping his mouth with his arm covers. He had just eaten.

All three of his teammates turned back to look at the 'Sauske' sitting atop the boulder, as it slumped over and revealed itself to be a stuffed dummy that only looked like the Uchiha.

"Wow.. didn't see that coming" Muttered Kakashi, blinking. He quickly shook his head. "Well. it seems Sauske actually managed to out smart you bolth, even if he did break the 'no eating' rule-"

"Actually..." Sauske started up "It's after noon. you said we weren't allowed to eat breakfast, so I just got lunch."

Everyone stared, dumbfounded at the Uchiha. Apparently, he wasn't best in the class for nothing.

_'well... maybe I should have shown up sooner..._' Kakashi thought to himself, blinking repeatedly at the young boy. "ehem... as I was saying, it's time we began your first training exam. This exam will tell us if you're really ready to become shinobi... or if you'll be sent BACK to the academy."

"What? But sensei! that's not fair!" Sakura called out.

Sauske and Naruto merely sat back and watched her one-sided argument with her teacher. One from boredom, the other from a lack of energy to do elsewise.

--

Naruto chuckled. It was all too easy. After learning just what their training session was, Naruto, Sakura, and Sauske had split up in different directions. Sakura falling to a Genjutsu by the jounin. Naruto had found a bell, one of two they were instructed to retrieve, sitting in a clearing under a tree. Moving twords it quickly to avoid traps, he reached for it... only to be caught in the very trap he was trying to avoid.

Now suspended by his ankle a good twelve feet off the ground, he saw his teacher come out of the treeline and begin to lecture him about it being an obvious trap. That was, untill a bent kunai spun past his head like a shuriken.

"Very good... taking advantage of my monolouge... Monolouge.. very villan-esque of me, ne?" Kakashi chuckled, tilting his head to the side and giving Naruto an eye smile as he did. It was rather lucky he did this, as the kunai that Naruto had flung before decided to return to him, whizzing back over the startled jounin's shoulder and sailing up, clipping the line that held Naruto up, and releasing him as it embedded itself into the tree.

Naruto, having swung himself back from throwing the kunai in the first place, had swung in the oppocite direction from momentum, and had clung to the tree. Now, reaching up and hooking his foot on the handle sticking out of the tree, he hoisted himself up almost effortlessly and drew it from the bark, before stabbing it in and using it to 'slide' down the tree, building up momentum as he plumeted, while keeping it in check with the blade and his foot pressing against the tree.

Kakashi was still in shock. Never before had he heard of somone using a bent kunai as a bladed boomarang before, let alone to release themself from an ankle trap. It wasn't untill Naruto was about to reach the ground did he react.

Naruto rushed him, bent kunai in hand as he charged the white-haried man. It was then shuriken bound to wires burst from the treeline, wrapping around kakashi and startling him further as Sauske leaped from the trees, his fingers already at his lips as he began a jutsu Kakashi knew well..

"Katon - Endan!"

A fireball traveled along the lines of metal held in the boy's teeth, and Naruto had to leap back to avoid the flames that engulfed the man. When they died away, a charred log fell to the ground.

"What the hell were you thinking? I could have gotten fried!" Cried out the blond, glaring daggers at his teammate. Sauske merely shrugged.

"Hmph.. serves you right. Anyways, I do have to say.. you were useful... as a distraction." Sauske then turned away, renewing his search for his sensei as Naruto stuttered behind him, finally managing to speak.

"A distraction? I nerely had him!" Naruto cried, growling as his hands moved to an all too farmiliar position. "Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"

A solid circle of Narutos stood around a shocked Sauske. Kakashi, from the bushes, was also shocked at this revelation. Since when did Naruto know shadowclone? A single naruto walked up to Sauske.

"Who knows, maybe if you actually thought, and got that stick out of your ASS for once, you'd see that we were a TEAM!"

These words alone shocked both spectators. All three charcoal colored eyes stared at the blond, before teh Uchiha came to a resolve, nodding faintly. It was all Naruto needed to continue.

"Then lets work together and squash this guy! With my energy and your..well.. I dont know what you have, but I'm sure we could beat him! Now.. if only Sakura-chan was here... she could help too..."

Kakashi merely sighed. Naruto had singlehandedly just broken the Uchiha boy's pride. Okay, maybe that was a bit strong. But he had atleast chipped it. Kakashi watched as they silently planned.

One Naruto paused slightly however, hearing that voice in the back of his mind say something before he turned back to Sauske, it's meaning unclear.

_"You have gained strength... Use this Trinity well..."_

--

Sauske stood in a clearing, completely alone. They had untill dinner to defeat this guy, and he wouldn't give in that chance for anything. Kakashi noted the shadow-clones hastily henge'd into random things around the clearing, the most obvious being the three-foot across leaf hanging from a tree a few feet away.

Kakashi sighed. The eyes all over the clearing would make a sneak attack impossible. And Kakashi was sure they had narutos underground, so Headhunter jutsu was out of the question.It looked like a frontal attack was all that would work now... ah well, they were just genin, what could they do?

--

Sauske watched as kakashi walked around from behind a tree ahead of him, an orange novel placed before his face as he drew closer.

"hmm? oh, there you are... heh, you're almost out of time" He commented, motioning twords the setting sun. Sauske made no move to look at the sun, prepared for anything the jounin could throw at him.

"Alright then... since you're going to be so formal about this, lets start shall we?" Kakashi gave an eye smile, before charging the Uchiha. Sauske didn't even flinch.

"NOW!" called out a voice, stopping Kakashi in mid-punch as smoke erupted around him, distracted, Kakashi saw five or six Naruto's appear from pebbles at sauske's feet, surrounding the jounin before a fist came dangerously close to his face, jumping out from the ring of blonds, they followed, calling out battle-cries as they attacked.

Fending off a kick from one, Kakashi had to swerve in mid-air to dodge a punch from two others, each aimed at different sides of his head, while a tackle was thrown at his chest. It was then a barrage of kunai flew around them all, kakahsi, seeing this coming, replaced himself with one as it stabbed into a clone, causing it to explode as the others sailed at him. It would appear they had prepaired for him to swtich with one, as they all converged on a point. he was not expecting this. Nor was he expecting all of those shuriken to transform into more narutos, all throwing shuriken at the jounin. These too had wires.

Sailing past him, they turned into even more Narutos. These all threw weapons twords the ground, before even more narutos appeared from these. These two had really planned this out! Kakashi had never seen an ambush this complicated, nor met the person who could use this much chakra without becoming exausted. All these clones, and all these transformations.. that kid had to have god-like stamina!

Before he realised it, he was trapped within, what could only be described as, a web of wires and blades and blonds. His arms were actually stuck out at his sides, wires at all angles keeping him from moving them to make handsigns, even to preform a simple kawarimi. Looking through the densly woven webs, he saw they were attatched to trees, rocks, and weapons in the ground. And, worse yet, they had backed him into a small dip in the treeline, meaning that he had cornered himself in a sense. He honestly wasn't expecting this kind of trap to be devised...

Time froze for Naruto as the voice in his head called out, it's final words before his mind returned to it's current place.

_"Rival's Power!"_

"Now we end this!" Cried out all the Narutos at once. Each drawing a final weapon, that bent, boomarang kunai, before throwing each and every one into the mass, each trailing a spinning wire behind it as they looped effortlessly through the wires. binding and drawing them together, creating a dangerous snare that appeared to be in-escapable, even to the white haried jounin.. but if he could just get to his headband... maybe he could escape...

"Katon - Endan!"

The cry called for the second time today as clones exploded and wires were coated in flame, each being drawn closer and closer to the trapped jounin. They had trapped him in a flaming net. reaching his headband, he lifted it, before seeming to vanish into thin air. Appearing outside the web, he could only watch as the trees at the edge of the blaze smoldered and burned at the intense heat being generated from the force.

A small jingle at his waist made him blink. The bells were gone. He had lowered his gaurd when he had escaped. He had returned his headband to it's place over his eye, and now he had lost the bells. To who though?

Turning around quickly, Kakashi was starteled as a three-foot long leaf burst into the form of naruto, bolth bells hanging from his grip as he grinned, leaping away from the shocked jounin.

"you've gotta be kidding me..."

Sakura woke slowly, an odd pain in arms as she tried to move to sooth it... only to find herself bound to a stump on the training grounds. Tied there. While Naruto and Sauske opened their own Bento.

"well, Looks like Naruto and Sauske pass... Sorry Sakura, but i'm afraid you have to be sent back to the academy. This is what you get for arguing with your sensei." Kakashi shrugged lightly, ignoring sakura's stuttered fury.

"I'll give you another chance to pass tonight. but if you feed her, you all fail! Bye!" Kakashi dissapeared in a swirl of leaves. While Naruto began eagerly digging into his bento. Or.. he would have had Sakura's anger not been hidden by embarrasment as her stomach growled loudly. Sighing heavily, Sauske held out his bento.

"Wha? B-but Sauske-kun! If you give me that you'll fail!"

"I've already eaten. and I can just re-take the exam. If you're starving you'll be too tired to help us take him again and pass." Sauske said quietly, Naruto nodded, holding out his bento too. He was starving, but his love for Sakura-chan drove him on.

"Come on... eat sakura-chan...you're hungrier than I am." Naruto said, picking up a riceball with his chopsticks and holding it out for her to eat.. It was true though. Sakura, afraid of what she would be doing today, had even skipped dinner last night. Naruto however, had thought ahead and eaten till his stomach couldn't hold any more. This was why he lasted as long as he did.

Sighing, Sakura accepted their help, letting her teammates feed her. It was half a dream come true, Sauske feeding her, but Naruto ruined the experience just by being there. In her dream, he was burning alive, feeding the fire to Sauske and her own romantic dinner.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Cried out a booming voice. Sakura spat out the riceball the Uchihad had just fed her, as the three whipped around to see an enraged Kakashi, flames seeming to burst out around him from his rage. "YOU THREE..."

They prepaired for the worst.

"Pass."

They weren't expecting this. Kakashi explained.

"This whole exam was to test your teamwork abilities. Sakura, while you went off on your own, Naruto offered to help, but you turned him down. That is why I caught you in that genjutsu, and that is why you were tied to the stump. Sauske, no matter how reluctant you were to realise it, you did realise that you needed help to get the bells, regardless of wether naruto got one or not. And Naruto, as much as it hurt you to say that you needed Sauske's help, you overcame your pride as much as he did to ask for that help from him.

There is a saying I picked up from an old friend: Those who abandon their mission are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. By helping your team mate when she was tied up, no matter if you got the bells or not, you saw that you needed to work together to complete the mission. You cant leave anyone behind, and because you saw this, all three of you pass." He eye smiled wider than the three of them had ever seen.

"I'd also like to say, that was very well planned out you two, if I hadn't done what I did, I would have been caught and roasted" Kakashi chuckled, but was curious when the blond started up as well.

"well sensei... it was really all on-the spot! We only talked about the big things, like what each clone would do, and what sauske would do, and where to put the extra clones incase you kawarimi'd out of there before we finished." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and giving his famous foxy grin. Besides... it hadn't really been like he had _meant_ to do any of that. it was like his body automaticly knew where and when to throw the kunai, and how many clones to make. Next chance he got though, he was going to the weapons store and having a few more of those bent kunai made... they were extremely helpful.

Kakashi blinked. They hadn't planned it all? That enormous trap that would have defeated even Kakashi wa Sharingan? Something was definatly up about this kid... It was like he could act without thinking and know exactly what he had to do... it was like he could enter your very heart and tempt you to do things you wouldn't normally do... That kind of power could be dangerous... but he was too young to realise what he could do, so for now, they were safe.. it would be best to alert the hokage about the events of this boy's exam.

"Alright you three! get some rest! Our first mission is tomorow!" Kakashi dissapeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the three genin proud, fed, and looking forwards to a good nights sleep.

--

Several weeks had passed, and news of the attack on towns in the land of birds, and now even other shinobi villages had spread througout the elemental nations. All were on gaurd for this unstoppable foe, crafted from pure darkness as the rumors stated.

Sarutobi sat in his office, smoking his pipe as he usually did while his mind was troubled, and the days paperwork had been tamed for the most part. He worried for the people of the village of leaves, as much as he worried for the safety of the rest of the land of fire. There was also the startling revelation of Naruto's acheivement. Creating that many full shadowclones, transformations, and fighting on that level, while starved for nearly an entire day, and also acheiving to chip at the wall of Sauske's invinceble pride... that boy truely was something else.

There was also the fact that Naruto held bolth scrolls of destiny, the scroll of light, and the scroll of darkness. If that boy unlocked those scrolls... all hell would break loose for the boy, but hopefully he would be ready. All sandaime could do was hope.

It was only when a grumpy Naruto and squad burst into the room, did he turn to look at them.

"Ah.. Naruto... here for another mission I see? Very well then... lets see.. hmm.. It would appear that the cat Tora has gone missing again... her owner-" He was cut off abruptly by the blond.

"NO! No way in HELL am I going after that mangy flea-bitten cat again! Infact, if I ever see that cat again I'm going to skin it alive and give its pelt back to the owner as a scarf!" The blond pulled at his hair as he roared in outrage. "We want something more challenging! We've been genin over a month and we've done nothing but D rank missions! Even that Inu-baka Kiba's team has gone on a C ranked mission!" Naruto yelled again

Sakura, Sauske, and Kakashi, long ago realising that this was an average conversation between the blond and their leader, sighed heavily. Although the two younger members did agree, they wanted something a bit more challenging. Sarutobi sighed heavily, closing the D ranked mission file, and pulling out another, marked "C rank missions"

"Alright.. you want something more challenging I see.. we have a C-ranked escort mission to the land of wave. If you accept you'll be escorting Tazuna the bridge builder back to his country so he can finish construction on the bridge to the mainland from his country." Sarutobi explained, pulling out the only C-ranked mission in the file.

"Alright! We accept! alright guys?" Naruto grinned, turning to face his team.

They all sighed heavily, but nodded, smiling, or eye smiling in kakashi's case. Turning back, Sarutobi smiled as well, nodding and handing Kakashi the mission form for him to look over.

"Prepare tonight, for tomorow you leave for the land of waves!"

--

AN: Whew... that took a while sorry it took me so long, and sorry this chapter is a bit long! But.. hey! there was action! To all those that may complain that Naruto and Sauske worked just a little TOO efficiently together, you've gotta remember it was a limit, Those two were working without their minds actually telling them what to do. It was just like in a game, someone you cant see is controling your body and making you do your best. Had it not been for that clone, they would have been too exausted(especially in naruto's case) to get the bells.

hope you all enjoyed, and thanks go out to all those who supported me and never gave up hope that i'd continue this! I will not let this fanfic die, that's the promise of a lifetime! nice guy pose

Next time: Naruto and squad's first real mission to the land of waves begin, and things are stirring in the waters of the land of waves... These strange creatures continue to ravage the ninja world, their mission as unclear as thier target, but one thing will be certain: the challenges they face will hopefully only make them stronger, as the trials to come become more demanding! A betrayal, a Friendship formed and shattered, and more action than any previous chapter in any of my fics before this! Read next time on Naruto - A Destined Heart!

- Ja Ne! -


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